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Venom Vol 2 30
Supporting Characters: * * * * Unnamed Antagonists: * ** ** ** ** * Other Characters: * * Philadephia Police Department ** Unnamed officers * Unnamed thugs Locations: * ** *** The Gallery Mall *** Germantown Avenue **** Maritime Motel *** Mütten Museum *** Decks * ** *** **** Items: * * Vehicles: * | Synopsis1 = In a flashback, Agent Venom brutally mauls a group of thugs, sporting a fanged maw and prehensile tongue. As Venom turns to face the U-Foes, Vector tells his teammates to not hold back and slaughter the monster. As Venom mockingly hisses that their bloodlust and fear smell delicious, Ironclad notes that the way he's talking doesn't sound like the same person; but Vector snaps that Venom is just Spider-Man in a monster mask and no match for his team. Recalling the incident, Flash notes that the Venom symbiote is supposedly lobotomized by the suppressant chemicals he injects himself with, but that he was possessed with a demon by Daimon Hellstrom. He wonders which of them took over after he was knocked out, or if the two monsters collaborated. Admitting he doesn't know much about symbiotes and even less about demons, Flash notes that they're both so bloodthirsty that he wouldn't be surprised if they got along just fine and have been cooperating to take him over when he slips up. Flash wonders why the demon and symbiote didn't just let the U-Foes kill him, since they'd then be free to return to Hell and find a new host respectively; and if they don't enjoy the thrill of taking him over and rampaging. Venom easily evades the U-Foes' attacks and snares a group of their hired thugs with tendrils, the demon taking control of them and using them to attack the U-Foes. Laughing, Venom sneers that Flash wasted his potential as he psychically tortures the thugs. Valkyrie regains consciousness and watches in shock as Venom acrobatically evades the U-Foes' thugs flamethrowers and energy cannons. Valkyrie picks up the Dragonfang sword - creeped out by Venom flirting with her - and locates reporter Katy Kiernan, who has been snared by a device that conjures memories to trap the minds of those who look into it. Valkyrie destroys the device, stating that she hopes doing so doesn't damage Kathy's mind as she and Venom need her. Fighting the U-Foes, Venom mockingly states that he can see into the minds of the thugs he's taken over and that all of them hated the U-Foes - with a few plotting to double-cross them. Freeing Kathy from her restraints, Valkyrie helps her to her feet and tells her to help set the other survivors free. Kathy disses Valkyrie's form-fitting breastplates and states that they're trapped, but Valkyrie uses the Dragonfang to open a portal to the outside, summoning her winged horse Aragorn. As the freed captives flee, Kathy and Valkyrie turn to see how Venom is doing. Elsewhere in the facility, X-Ray manages to snare Venom, Ironclad grabbing Venom and pinning him to a wall - sneering that the symbiote antihero won't be so tough when he's through pummeling him. Venom retorts that he doesn't have to be tough, just smart - and that he now has access to all of their technology and control of the people who run it. Vector realizes the symbiote-controlled scientists are activating their transductor device and the U-Foes rush to stop them, but arrive too late. As Venom watches triumphantly, the U-Foes are blasted by their own machine and vanish. Later, Valkyrie and Kathy stand outside a docked ship, the latter wondering where Venom is. Valkyrie notes that Venom may not have even made it out, and if he does he might have succumbed to the symbiote. Kathy notes the Asgardian spear in Valkyrie's hand and wonders if it's to slay Venom if Flash has lost control. As the former captives ask what's going on, Kathy tries to reassure them; Valkyrie's warning her not to be so sure just yet. Agent Venom steps through the portal, Flash once again in control. As Valkyrie expresses concern that the symbiote might be playing a trick to catch her off-guard, Flash assures the Asgardian psychopomp that it's really him before collapsing into her arms. Interrupting the moment, Kathy wonders what happened to the U-Foes. Agent Venom replies that he doesn't know. In an unknown void, the U-Foes float aimlessly - trapped. Standing atop a high-rise, Flash laments to Valkyrie that he was useless - having lost control to the symbiote and/or demon - and grumbling that even a monster is better at rescuing people than he is. Valkyrie asks Flash if the people who she and Venom rescued care who rescued them, and that all that matters is that they're safe - which wouldn't have happened if he hadn't showed up at all. Flash laments not having been able to save everyone, but Kathy says that he'll just have to learn from his mistakes. Valkyrie tells Flash that he's finally found his calling in Philadelphia, Flash lamenting that he'll be alone before revealing that the Valkyrie and Kathy he's speaking two are simulacrums manifested from the Venom symbiote - the real Valkyrie and Kathy having left shortly after the fight wrapped up. As the ersatz Kathy and Valkyrie disperse into tendrils of living darkness that are retracted into the symbiote, Flash wryly says it was a good pep talk. Looking out over the nighttime cityscape, Flash notes that a fresh start sounds nice and is just what he needs - provided he can avoid screwing everything up again. Looking down at one of the U-Foes mind-reading crystals, Flash tells the symbiote and demon that sooner or later they'll need to have a chat. In Bushwick, Brooklyn, a group of police and SWAT teams prepare to burst into a townhouse where they're received intel their target is located. The officer in charge of the strike tells the SWAT to go in hard and fast, shooting to kill, but when they break the door down they find the room in total darkness - one SWAT officer complaining about a noxious odor, which another says is what tipped the neighbors off that something was wrong. The officers spot a bunch of mutilated and half-eaten corpses piled up against a wall, some of them wearing the masks of the Crime Master's gang. The head officer calls for a forensics team and backup before noticing a red liquid dripping from the ceiling. Aiming her flashlight up, she sees Eddie Brock - naked and burned - cocooned to the ceiling by the Toxin symbiote. Eddie greets the officers, stating that it was impolite of them to barge in uninvited and jokingly asking if they want to hire him for taking care of the criminals for them. As Eddie states that he has some personal matters to attend to first, the SWAT officer identifies him as Venom. As the symbiote covers him, Eddie states that these days he goes by Toxin and lunges jaws-first at the SWAT team, bullets and blood spraying everywhere. | Solicit = VENOM VS. THE U-FOES IN THE CITY OF BROTHERLY SHOVE! • In a race against time, can Flash Thompson rescue not just his friends and the entire city of Philadelphia from an alien plot? • Get ready for the most TOXIC final page in Venom history! | Notes = | Trivia = * One of the NYPD officer in the scene featuring Toxin's return is incorrectly shown wearing a Philadelphia police badge on her shoulder. | Recommended = | Links = }}